Neon Exodus Evangelion - 0:2 To Find a Heart
by Professor A. Pendragon
Summary: Shinko Ayanami does her best to repel the attack of the first of the Sephiroth Angels, but is still very, very lost. Inside, she is still Shinji Ikari, but the outside is not quite coping. The stress of battle does not ease her pain, but Doctor Ichimi t


  
  
"Humans should evolve into a new world. That is the purpose of the EVA   
series."  
"We have no intention of giving up our human forms simply to enter the ark   
called EVA..."  
--Taken from the transcripts of SEELE meetings between Gendo Ikari and the   
Assembly.  
  
  
NEON EXODUS EVANGELION  
Exodus 0:2  
  
Episode 2: To find a heart/Unmistakable Identity  
Written By: Art Damon  
TheProf42@cs.com  
  
  
"Evangelion Unit-01, LAUNCH!"  
The command given, the locks snapped open and Unit-01 rocketed up through the   
access hatches, toward the surface of the ARK. The girl inside felt gravity pulling down   
on her; inertia telling her that she should be staying in one spot, while motion was telling   
her quite plainly that she was going another. Gritting her teeth against it, she heard a   
great HISS-CLANK above her, and looked up.  
Massive airlock doors had parted, and Unit-01 was soon standing on the hull of   
the ARK. The girl looked about, instinct taking over again. "I don't see it!" she   
exclaimed. The fact that she was on the hull of a spaceship seemed not to be of   
consequence.  
Ishako's face appeared on a holoscreen beside her. "We sent you to the wrong   
hatch. Follow the tracking beacon we've activated."  
"But-won't I float away?"  
"No, silly. We installed magnetic pads to Unit-01's feet. Just don't do any   
marathon jumps, and you'll be fine. Besides, we can always reel your power cable back   
in."  
"Okay... I'm off!"  
Unit-01 disconnected from its restraints and began to move. The girl followed a   
glowing crosshair that led along the surface of the hull, and with a steady CLANK-  
CLANK-CLANK, the giant biomachine grew closer to its target.  
  
  
  
"We've activated the ship's AT Field, sir. It appears to be working fine."  
"I don't like this, Kensuke. Not one little bit." Ryu said, keeping a watchful eye   
on the approaching Angel.  
"Ryu, if it was good enough for the EVAs, it's good enough for us."  
"We're placing ourselves in incredible danger-"  
Kensuke was suddenly in his face. "Do you want to sacrifice all of these lives   
back to Adam?" he said, lowering his voice angrily. "No? Then enslaving one soul to   
save one hundred and forty-four thousand is hardly a crime."  
The normally stoic boy's outburst surprised Ryu into quiet, but as Aida returned to   
his post, he found his voice again. "I'll not have one of my subordinates dictating orders   
to me." He said in a low, challenging voice.  
"Of course not, sir. I am only reminding you of our position... and our duties."  
There was silence for a few moments, then beeping from the tactical station.   
"The target is within range of our cannons, sir." The Tac officer said.  
"Bring us to bear on her, ensign. Ready us for a full blast."  
"Aye, Captain. Charging all laser cannons."  
  
  
  
Unit-01's hand came down and gripped a part of the ARK, helping the EVA to   
move from one side of it to another. The girl looked up to see the Angel approaching, its   
white head rearing evil looking teeth. She could not help but shudder as its white wings   
were silhouetted against the yellow flare that came out of them, pushing it across the   
vacuum of space.   
"I see it..." she said, making the EVA stand on its new plane. "Ejecting   
Progressive Knife."  
With that, the shoulder blade parted and the knife slid out and down, and she took   
it. The massive blade slid out from its handle, and became white with energy. She could   
not hear the same whine she normally did, and a thought struck her-she was fighting in   
space. She could not let the EVA's armor get damaged too severely, otherwise the   
biological components would be exposed and flash-frozen.... Not a good prospect. There   
was also no air outside; if she had to eject the Entry Plug for any reason, she would have   
to stay in it and be recovered by the ARK-all the while, being vulnerable to the Angel's   
attack.  
This would NOT be an easy battle.  
"Wait a moment, dear." The Doctor said again. "The boys on the Bridge want a   
shot at it, first."  
The girl only nodded. She didn't want to be here, anyway. If they can fight the   
battle for her, all the better.  
  
  
  
"Foreword cannon armed!" Tactical Officer Tamari said, confirming the   
computer's lock.  
"Fire at will, mister Tamari!" Ryu exclaimed, leaning ahead in his seat.  
The whole of the bridge turned from their stations to see the result...  
With a thundering CRASH, the laser cannons were suddenly aglow with deadly   
yellow light. The beams raced across the great vacuum toward the ever-nearing Angel,   
who continued her course unwaveringly. The beams converged on the giant being, and   
with a blink of the eye, the tension lines of an AT Field appeared, deflecting the beams in   
different directions.   
A silent sigh went throughout the Bridge. They all knew that was what would   
happen, but hoped differently. The next thing that happened, however, was NOT   
expected.  
"Mister Aida... extend our AT Field. Neutralize that thing."  
Kensuke rapidly turned to face him. "Captain?!"  
Ryu met his gaze unwaveringly. "Did I stutter, Lieutenant?"  
"... No, sir. Diverting more power to the AT Field..."  
  
  
  
The girl watched the failed attempt from Unit-01. The cannons stopped their   
firing, and she just furrowed her brow. "Idiots." She muttered. "I could have told them   
that would happen."  
'... God, that sounded just like Asuka...' he thought. 'I wonder if she....'  
"Shinko?" the Doctor's voice said.  
The girl came to her senses. "What was that, Doctor?"  
"Shinko. Your new name." She said smugly.  
"My... new name?"  
"Yes. You are no longer Shinji, nor are you Rei.... I put the feminine on Shinji to   
get 'Shinko'. Not bad, ne?"  
"Uhm, Doctor... the Angel?"  
"Hm? Oh, right. They're going to take another shot at it."  
"Didn't they see how useless THAT shot was?"  
"They're extending our AT Field to neutralize the Angel's."  
"What? The entire SHIP has an AT Field? How is that possible?"  
"I'm afraid I can't say, Shinko. You'll have to figure that out on your own."  
She sighed and slumped back in the pilot's chair, looking up again at the Angel.   
'Maybe I died, somehow, and this is punishment for my cowardice.' Shinji thought. 'I'm   
in Ayanami's body, fighting in my own EVA against an enemy that I thought I'd   
defeated... But WHY? WHY am I here?'  
  
  
  
"AT Field at maximum power, Captain. The cannon are still charging."  
"Put a rush on it, Tamari."  
"Aye, sir."  
"C-Captain! The Energy Taurus is beginning to grow!"  
  
  
  
Shinko gasped in sudden surprise as the wings of the Angel flew open, and its   
eyes flared a bright red. The green weapon it held began to grow and transform into a far   
more familiar weapon: the Lance of Longinus. EVA-01 moved almost without Shinko   
telling it to, scaling the objects on the hull and readying its Prog Knife for hand-to-hand.   
The Angel, however, had other ideas. It raised the Pseudo-Lance and, with a motion of   
its mighty arm, sent it hurtling for the hull at unbelievable speeds.  
The pilot was suddenly frozen in horror. To her astonishment, the EVA truly   
acted without her consent, slashing at the right second to send the Lance away from itself,   
penetrating the hull of the ARK for several meters.   
It was as if the EVA had gone through this before.  
  
  
  
"Hull Breech in Sector 12! Decks One and Two!"  
"Unit-01 has disarmed the Angel for the time-being. It is moving to retrieve its   
Lance."  
"Shinko! Get on top of that thing and fling it back into space!"  
  
  
  
"Okay!" the girl said, determination beginning to sink in again. She felt at home,   
in some odd way. The EVA was reacting a bit more fluidly than Shinji remembered, but   
that was of little consequence right now. All that mattered was making the Target silent,   
and the Target was quickly descending onto the hull.   
With a loud battlecry (that sounded damn peculiar coming from the small female   
frame he wore), Shinko leapt from the hull and slashed downward with the knife. The   
knife did its job, burying itself into the surprisingly soft armor of the Angel. However,   
the magpads on the bottom of the EVA's feet were no longer attached, and the only thing   
keeping the biomachine anchored was its hold on the enemy.  
The cold vacuum of space quickly did its work, sending purple shards of flash-  
frozen blood into the area, and the Angel raised its head in a cry of pain. The scariest   
thing about it was, despite the lack of any kind of medium for sound to travel, the Angel   
screamed a painful shriek that everyone on the ARK could hear...  
  
  
  
I awoke to find myself surrounded by infinite space. A void left behind, where   
there was nothing before. We were pilgrims escaping persecution for simply existing-  
escaping the plans of a vengeful God and a cunning man, plans we had no part in   
planning.  
  
I was dead, but now I live. I live for them, to prove to God that we need to exist...  
Perhaps to prove that we WILL exist... no matter what...  
  
  
  
Shinko slowly floated back into consciousness. The battle... somehow, she   
remembered. She had won the battle. She remembered sticking the knife into the   
Angel's back... and then...  
And then? And then what? Only black.   
"... And then there was light..." she muttered, painfully opening her eyes. She   
recognized her surroundings immediately by the sounds and smells... the sights came   
after a few seconds of painful adjustment to the bright lights. She was back in the ARK's   
Sickbay, with tubes going into her and Doctor Ichimi fretting over her. The good Doctor   
seemed very relieved that she had said anything, even if it hadn't made any sense to her.   
"Shinko-chan?" Ichimi said, leaning close to her. "Are you alright?"  
"... '-chan'.... I'll never get used to that..."  
"I'll take that as a 'yes' for now. I wasn't sure after they launched the Containment   
Sphere..."  
The young girl's red eyes widened. "The... Containment... Sphere?"  
"Yes, dear. The thing they used to capture the Angel's core."  
Shinko's interest was now piqued. She struggled onto her upper arm, sitting up a   
bit. "Capture the core? Is... that possible?"  
"Oh, very much so. We think that by capturing the cores, we'll learn what we   
need to do to separate us from the Angels forever."  
"How does it work?"  
Ichimi laughed. "There will be time for that after you've healed. You need to rest   
now, dear. I hope you don't mind my taking you out of that plugsuit..."  
"No, it's fine, thank you... I'm getting used to Rei's body... it seems she spent a lot   
of time in hospitals."  
Doctor Ichimi looked at her, her face showing a bit of uncertainty. "Shinko...   
how much did you... know about 'Rei' in your past incarnation?"  
"Not nearly as much as I had to learn... not nearly as much as I wanted to learn."  
"Do you remember the Dummy Plug system?"  
"... Vaguely. Doctor Akagi destroyed them all, didn't she?"  
Ichimi shook her head, sitting at the foot of the bed. "A few of them were still in   
their Plugs when Akagi destroyed the rest. One of those was the Dummy Plug for Unit-  
01..." She bit her lip, averting her gaze. "Do you know how the Dummy Plug system   
worked?"  
"Not exactly..." Shinko was a bit nervous and curious now.   
"Well... basically, the whole of the Rei series was meant to be empty templates...   
easily imprinted on, made to accept any pattern given to them. Unit-01's Dummy Plug   
was imprinted with the signals of Shinji Ikari, the Third Child..."  
Ishako met Shinko's gaze again. "... Dear... you are that Dummy Plug. You were   
part of a batch of experimental materials seized from NERV just before the Third Impact.   
We thought that by stealing a Dummy Plug, we could learn how to alter our own cloning   
techniques..."  
Shinko stared off into empty space. This hit her, and hit her hard. "... Are you   
trying to tell me.." she began slowly, "... That I'm nothing more than a copy? I've not   
switched bodies... I... I was never IN the body of Shinji Ikari?"  
Doctor Ichimi nodded.   
Shinko looked down at her IV tubes and slowly withdrew each from the small   
ports. "... Excuse me..." she said, and slid painfully out of the bed and made her way to   
the bathroom. Ishako heard her throw up.   
'... I'm so sorry, Shinji.' Ishako thought, her face falling into sadness. 'I wish I   
could undo the past made for you by those bastards... but now there's nothing left of   
them. The Past is truly dead... Now all that's left is the cold, uncertain future.  
'But I'll be there for you.' She nodded to herself with determination. 'I'll be   
there...'  
  
  
*******************  
NEON EXODUS EVANGELION  
  
Episode Two  
  
To Find A Heart  
*******************  
  
  
Deep within the core units of the United Nations Ship ARK, two young men   
stared up at a glowing, pulsating sphere of dark red energy. Somehow, they sensed that it   
glared back at them, and it was enough to send shudders down the spine of one of them.   
The sphere was held in the bottom-most slot in an arrangement of thirteen slots that   
looked like the Tree of Life, with a massive array of computer consoles at the very   
bottom.   
"I can't believe it." Kensuke muttered, glancing down at the control panels that   
held the sphere in place. He adjusted his glasses and studied the screens. "But the   
computers all confirm it."  
"Malkuth was captured too easily." Ryu mused, his hands clasped behind his   
back. He looked at Aida, the ponytail that was typical of the Kaji family flipping over his   
shoulder. "You don't suppose this was a sacrifice on the part of the Universal Soul, do   
you? The whole containment process is still very untested."  
"Oh, come on." Kensuke said, beginning to type. "Doubting NERV was what got   
your brother killed. You don't want to endanger your crew, do you?"  
Ryu frowned intensely at Kensuke and quickly strode over to his station, clasping   
his shoulder hard. "Aida, I don't need that kind of reminder from such a Loyalist like   
you."  
The two shot a hard glare at each-other. There was a silence that was broken only   
by the muffled sounds of the Angel's core, until Kensuke spoke. "My grandfather gave   
his life so that I would make it on the ARK in time. One of the last things he told me   
about was the Vessels. I intend to see this project to its completion, CAPTAIN."  
More silence filled the room. Ryu turned quickly on his heel, his ponytail nearly   
whapping Aida in the face. He began to stride out of the room, "Don't forget your role as   
my Science Officer, COMMANDER. I expect you to see to the repairs to Unit-01   
immediately. Also, see what you can do about assembling EVA Unit-03. We finally got   
the parts sorted out."  
"You're not serious. We don't have any pilots, and we'd have to replace the S2   
Engine with something more reliable--"  
Ryu paused just before the massive sliding doors that read "GAUF" in large   
roman script. "The other eleven Angels WILL attack us. It's just a matter of when.   
We're headed for Mars, so we can expect that to be the next point of attack. That gives us   
a month and a half. We must be ready, especially if Ikari cannot fight."  
He gave a small glance over his shoulder. "Failure is not an option."  
With that, he walked out of the room, the massive doors parting for him, and   
quickly shutting again, locking. Aida looked where his captain had went for a few   
seconds, then turned to look at the pulsating orb at the bottom of the Tree of Life   
arrangement.   
"I agree." he mused, furrowing his brow. "... I shall not fail."  
  
  
  
"... I sincerely doubt I'll ever get used to this."  
Doctor Ichimi smiled a bit, trying to comfort her. "Oh, don't worry, dear! You   
look beautiful!"  
"Yeah. I doubt I'll ever get used to that."  
Shinko was standing in front of a mirror, wearing a long, flowing blue dress. The   
dress covered her shoulders and upper arms and had a normal neckline, which she   
debated over for quite some time. The male inside of her wanted to be modest, and was   
quite embarrased at the fact it was wearing a dress... and yet, he couldn't help but admit   
that, yes, this form was somewhat attractive. A very small part of him kinda wanted to   
show it off-- but then he'd hit that wall of being embarassed again. Doctor Ichimi helped   
her pick out this dress, which nicely matched her hair colour.   
"Oh, come on." Ishako said. "Why don't you give it a twirl?"  
"... A twirl?"  
"Yeah! You know... a twirl!"  
She illustrated by quickly spinning in place, arms slightly out, which made her lab   
coat billow out. Ishako went a little red in the cheeks, but then sighed. She raised her   
arms a bit and spun around slightly, making the dress billow out a bit. She felt a breeze   
on her legs and, yes, all the way up to her thighs, which made her gasp a bit.   
"What's wrong?"  
"N-n-nothing! I just... felt a draft. Don't girls get cold in these?"  
Ishako laughed. "Yeah, sometimes we do. Some of us just get resiliant, though.   
I don't wear dresses much."  
Shinko turned toward the mirror again and nervously ran her hands along the   
skirt. "Well... it's... not a bad dress." she conceded.  
"You're going to need something more than a Plug Suit." Ishako reminded her,   
"Unless you want to wear a hospital gown the whole time you're here."  
"No thank you! The draft was worse in that-- but at least I knew to expect it."  
The Doctor laughed again. "Then I'll see the clerk about buying it."  
"... Ishako, I don't understand... how can they have a whole prominade like this   
inside the ship? How can they just have businesses and... and..."  
"... And carry on like normal people, when they know what's going on?"  
Shinko nodded.   
"Well, for one, YOU try to pack 10,000 people into a relatively small space and   
tell them to do nothing... we built the Prominade so that they'd have something to do."  
"Ten thousand? I thought you said that the ARK held 144,000 people..."  
"It does. But only 10,000 are ever awake at a given time. The others are all in   
Cryostasis."  
"Oh..."  
Shinko looked out at the throngs of people in the Prominade. "... Did I... hurt   
anyone in the last battle?"  
"... There were a few injuries." Ishako said, fumbling for her ID card.  
"A few injuries? Didn't the Angel's lance pierce the hull?"  
The Doctor quickly gave her card to the clerk, who swiped it through. She simply   
said nothing. Shinko sighed and hung her head. 'Of course.' Shinji thought, glancing   
down at the pale white form he wore, covered by the light blue dress. 'Ritsuko and   
Misato would say the same thing...'  



End file.
